Search Results for -Product Type: Toys Age: Early Elementary School Years Categories: Activity and Craft Kits

2005 Award

Crayola Window Mega Markers(Binney & Smith $4.99 Score:) Great for a rainy day. Kids can decorate sliding doors and windows with these four extra-thick washable markers. Also a good way to temporarily note a special occasion. For sunny days, Crayola Sidewalk Paint ($9.99) Have your own sidewalk art show with this three-color paint kit. "Colors not as vibrant as on the box, but the kids had a great time. I had to fight with the kids to get them to stop and get ready for bed!" New for 2005, comes in a reusable plastic paint tray. 5 & up.

My Jewelry Box Kit(Balitono $19 Score:) Our testers gave this 8" wooden jewelry box high marks for the way it was finished inside with velvet finished fittings and little hooks for hanging necklaces. This is a more grown-up jewelry box than most we've tested. While marked 6 & up, it was appealing to our 11-year-old testers. For our horse fans, My Horse Stable & Corral Kit ($25) got rave reviews. Comes with a wooden stable (8" x 6" x 7") with two stalls, one wooden horse, and an 18"-long wooden corral, and paint.

Scratch & Sparkle Deluxe Kit(Scratch-Art Co. $14.99 Score:) For fans of Scratch art products, this is a satisfying kit. Comes with 16 sheets (four each multicolor, glitzy gold, silver, and blue), stencils, drawing tools and frames. Still top rated, Scratch-Lite Sketcher ($19.99) a lightbox on which kids place scratch art paper and draw or write with one of two fancy tipped drawing tools. Comes with stencils and 10 sheets of special paper, so bring home a refill pack. A good quiet-time toy that develops dexterity needed for writing. 5 & up.

Monster Art Center(Alex $69.99 Score:) Imagine the thrill of opening this double-hinged art center with trays to the right, trays to the left, and trays below! It comes loaded with 30 fine-tip markers, 28 colored pencils, 26 crayons, 24 oil pastels, 12 watercolors, brushes, pencil, glue, and palette. The crayons aren’t as juicy as Crayola, but the materials and kit would be a dream gift to most art-minded kids! They say 4 & up, we’d say this is more like a gift for 6 & up. (800) 666-2539.

Beaded Dresser Set(Creativity for Kids $14.99 Score:) Set comes with a small mirror set in wood, a ceramic heart frame and heart-shaped box, pastel colored beads, ribbons, and glue. A straightforward project that requires kids to spread the glue out and then spill beads onto the glue for decoration. The light beads have a “princess/fairy” look to them and will appeal to younger girls. 6 & up. (800) 311-8684.

My Pinball Game Kit(Balitono $19.95 Score:) Finding kits that will appeal to boys as well as girls is not always easy. This one was a hit with our eight-year old tester. Okay, it won’t compete with the electronic versions, but it will be unique! Also fun for dramatic play, My Doghouse Kit ($19.95 ), with pooch, house, and feeding bowl. Still top rated, My Horse Stable & Corral Kit ($25 ). PLATINUM AWARD ’05. (609) 936-8807.

Ceramic Swirl Art(Alex $24.99 Score:) Classic spin art type toys are one of our all-time favorites so you can imagine how excited we were to find this new “spin” that includes ceramic plates and tiles that attach to the platform. You can set your designs by baking them. Adult supervision a must. Also fun and messy, Tie Dye Party ($19.99 4balls) but we’d skip Plaster Caster ($44.99 2 balls), which looked amazingly cool but we could not get a figure to form that wasn’t cracked. 8 & up. (800) 666-2539.

Ribbon and Felt Tote(Creativity for Kids $15.99 Score:) This wonderful hassle-free, no-mess craft kit features a pink cotton tote bag that is decorated with stick-on cutout shapes and a striped ribbon that trims the top by simply threading it through like a belt. This would have been a Platinum winner had it arrived earlier. Big enough to hold a small book and other treasures, this is an art project that will be worn with pride. No sewing or glue required. 6 & up.